The valve of this invention is a multi-passageway type of valve, and it has a single control handle for actuating the valve closures in unison. That is, all of the passageways can be shut off or in the open position, but they are all in the same closed or open mode and are all controlled through the single handle.
Single handle and multiple passageway valves are already known in the art, and examples of such are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,409,048 and 3,698,428 and 3,746,048 and 4,533,113 and 4,880,032 and 4,964,434. The aforementioned are all U.S. patents, and, U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,428 also shows closures in axial alignment, but with separate operating arms for each closure; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,032 shows a single closure with two passageways spaced apart therein. Beyond the aforementioned, the prior art patents do not disclose a cut-off valve wherein there are multiple passageways in parallel orientation and with the operating valve stems or the like all being parallel and with two of the closures or two of the passageways being in tandem arrangement. With that arrangement, a single handle can operate four closures in four separate passageways.
Still further, all of the multi-passageways of this invention are arranged in parallel relationship and are in a body which is adapted to receive a manifold, on the upstream of the passageways for the inlet of fluid into the body, and to receive a member, on the downstream side of the passageways in the body, to thereby isolate the aforesaid downstream valve from the supply or inlet manifold so that the downstream valve can be moved for replacement, repair, or the like without the leakage of fluid from the system.
The present invention also provides a multi-passageway valve wherein there are closures in each of the passageways, and there is a control attached to the closures and the arrangement is such that all of the closures are set in identical positions of being open, partly open, or closed. Still further, the apparatus of this invention has a lock, indicator, or the like, which secures and indicates the position of the closures in any degree of open or closed positions. With that arrangement, for instance, the operator can set the closures in the fully closed position, and can lock them in that position, and thereby be assured that the fluid is cut off from the downstream member which can then be removed for repair, replacement, or the like.
In this system, there can be a plurality of sections or lines for fluid flow, with each section or line incorporating the multi-passageway cut-off valve of this invention and the upstream manifold and the downstream member, and only that one line, of all the fluid lines in the system, can be shut down for purposes of replacement, repair, or the like, without the need for shutting down all of the lines in the entire multi-line system.